Bulletin Board with News and Events

Last February, after I attended a meeting of Cathedral pastors in Seattle, I wrote in this column about the prayer that appeared in the parish bulletin and on their Cathedral website on the eve of the 2006 Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. Seattle lost. I noted, however, that the Pittsburgh Cathedral probably was praying just as hard. I added my haunting promise in the 2-12-06 edition of our bulletin. If the Bears ever get there, even if we are not on a steep hill like the one in Seattle, count on prayer at Holy Name Cathedral. Never did I expect to have to pay off this fast! On Super Bowl Sunday, February 4, I have the 9:30 Mass. Join me. I promise to offer out loud a prayer at the inspiration of our experienced Seattle brothers. I only hope that we have better luck vs. Colts than they had vs. Steelers. We gather on the day of the Super Bowl to give thanks to God for our great, great city of Chicago, and to pray that Chicago will be mighty not only in sports, but in our care of the poor, in our support of art and culture, in our eagerness to be the natural place of prayer for all God’s children, in our insistence that historic Holy Name Cathedral naturally be recognized as the place where God meets humanity. Almighty God, be with Chicago and bless its proud people always. We pray in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen. Now, let’s win the Super Bowl!

Saturday is the Feast of St. Blaise. A 4th century physician, he saw the misery of worldly pleasures, and he resolved to spend his life in service of God. From being a healer of the body, he became a physician of souls. When the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia died, Blaise, much to the gratification of that city, was chosen to succeed him. Blaise began to instruct his people, as much by example as by his words, and the great virtues of the servant of God were attested by many miracles. People came to him for the cure of bodily and spiritual ills. During a Christian persecution, Blaise, after interrogation and scourging, was imprisoned. In his custody, a frantic mother, with an only child dying of a throat disease, threw herself at his feet and implored his intercession. Touched at her grief, Blaise offered prayers, and the child was cured. The prisoner later was brought before the governor for questioning, and again was whipped while tied to a pillar. He was spared from drowning when thrown into a lake; the governor ordered then that he be beheaded. At the execution site he prayed to God for his persecutors, and asked that in the future those who would invoke him might be aided, as he had been permitted to assist them during his life. Our Lord appeared to him and said in a voice which all bystanders heard, that He granted the prayer. Since that time his intercession has often been solicited, especially in cases of throat problems. Two Masses will be offered in the Club Room on the lower level of our parish center Saturday at 8:00am and 12:10pm. The traditional blessing with crossed candles will be administered at the conclusion of Mass to all who come forward for that customary blessing.

Pastors received an interesting letter this week from Loretta Namonic, President of St. Scholastica Catholic High School for Girls in the northeast corner of Chicago. The annual Catholic Schools Week begins this Sunday, January 28. Ms. Namonic thanked any priest or deacon who, in his homily, planned to call attention to the treasure of Catholic elementary education. However, she asked for more, “to remember to say a few words about the outstanding Catholic high schools.” She further pointed out that “the youth of today continue to need the nurturing, supportive, faith-filled atmosphere of Catholic schools during their critical adolescent years. Additionally, the academic preparation a student receives at a Catholic high school is truly outstanding…The value a student receives from Catholic education is priceless. However, in some families, financing a Catholic education may be a struggle. Please remind your parishioners that frequently scholarships and financial aid are readily available at Catholic high schools.” That’s great, valuable news. I am pleased to relay Ms. Namonic’s hopeful, proud words. She does not have to convince me of the tremendous value of Catholic secondary school education. I used to be a Catholic high school teacher. We need our Catholic high schools. The great majority of the locally raised leadership of our city has a diploma from a Catholic high school. For more specific information, phone Loretta Namovic at St. Scholastica High School, 773-764-5715, x390; or call me at 312-787-8040. I will refer you to the great administrators and teachers I am proud to know, the apostles of Catholic education to high school kids and their families.

On January 18, the students and teachers of the Frances Xavier Warde School assembled in Old St. Pat’s Church west of the Loop for a “Peace Mass,” a liturgy annually celebrated in the vicinity of ML King’s birthday. In the past, those prayers had been offered separately on both campuses, Holy Name and Old St. Pats; separately in two groups on each campus, the Catholics and those of other faiths – “Moonbeams” & “Shooting Stars.” After 5 years, I still cannot remember which group is which. This time it did not matter. All God’s children, 1st through 8th grade, came together. I concelebrated with Fr. Tom Hurley, associate and future pastor of OSP who preached an enchanting homily. I was proud to be there. FXW is one school – not divided by our dual locations, never divided in our belief that we all are children of God. This year’s celebration was inspired by Mary Reiling, the Head of School; it also was necessitated because HNC was under the construction. Those circumstances were a blessing. I hope FXW continues to cash in on its true wealth – its Catholic foundation, its wide-open presence to Chicago.

Last Monday, Father Pat Lagges, Cathedral resident priest, Vicar for Canonical Services at the Archdiocese, and my friend since high school, lost his mom. We pray for Margaret Lagges, for Father Lagges and his family, and for all who trust in the Resurrection.

I like French Toast. I like Holy Name Cathedral’s Mass-goers coming together. I like Sunday Morning. All those fortunate assemblies gather around a French Toast breakfast sponsored next Sunday morning in the cafeteria. See the ad elsewhere in this bulletin. I will be there, for breakfast and for lunch! I’ll be looking for you on Super Bowl Sunday morning! Please, join us. Let’s share breakfast and get ready to watch the Bears win inspired by the Parish Life Commission-sponsored French Toast breakfast.

Fr. Dan Mayall